Serum levels of E2 and T, and the GSI in females rose significantly during the breeding season (April–June 1983). The levels of both steroids dropped below 1 ng/ml in spent females sampled in succeeding months. In immature males, T levels ranged from 1.11 ng/ml to 2.78 ng/ml and rose significantly to 21.52±8.38 ng/ml during the breeding season when GSI peaked. Serum T levels dropped to around 10 ng/ml in the succeeding months when only spent or regressed males were sampled.

Recent progress undertaken by SEAFDEC/AQD in the development of broodstock of a variety of cultured fish in the Philippines is reviewed. Spontaneous maturation and spawning has been achieved among captive breeders of grouper, milkfish, sea bass, rabbitfish, and tilapia. Hormonal intervention methods have been developed mainly to accelerated final gonadal maturation to synchronize release of mature gametes, and to control sex inversion among hermaphroditic fish such as grouper. These methods entailed the development of gonadal biopsy procedures and hormone administration protocols such as mode on introducing a variety of exogenous hormones to fish, administration intervals, and lately response times.Enhancement of reproduction by improving the diet fed to Nile tilapia, rabbitfish, and milkfish breeders has also been achieved in recent years. Protein or lipid enrichment of the diet may enhance growth of broodstock to subsequently increase reproductive performance and fry survival.Limited success has been achieved with photoperiod manipulation to effect year-round sexual maturation and spawning of milkfish and sea bass broodstock.

Nine experiments were conducted to investigate the influence of chronic administration of testosterone (T) and gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) analogues on first maturation of 4- to 6-year-old fish and rematuration of 6- to over 9-year-old spent/regressed fish.

Implantation of T or T in combination with luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone analogue (LHRH-A) had no marked effect on maturation rate of 4-year-old milkfish. The percentage of maturing fish was low and similar to controls in Experiment 1 (T, 31–35%; control, 35%) and Experiment 3 (T, 13%; T plus LHRH-A, 28%; control, 22.2%). Most of the 4-year-old maturing fish were males; maturing females were obtained only from the T-implanted groups in Experiment 1. In Experiment 3, T-implanted maturing females were able to retain yolky eggs whereas maturing control females did not, indicating that testosterone may have enhanced vitellogenesis and maintained the integrity of vitellogenic oocytes. Tank-reared maturing 4-year-old females, about half the size of older first maturing females, were induced to spawn. This is the first case of maturation and spawning of 4-year-old milkfish reared in tanks.

As in Experiments 1 and 3, the percentage maturation of spent fish in Experiments 7 and 8 was similar for T-implanted and controls. On the other hand, the 4-year-old immature fish in Experiments 2 and 4, the 5- and 6-year-old immature fish in Experiments 5 and 6, and the spent 6-year-old fish in Experiment 9 were immature or regressed throughout. The factors which may have influenced the results of these experiments include age and reproductive history of the fish, timing of hormone implantation, experimental and holding conditions, and stress.

From 10 May to 16 June, 1975, 106 adult milkfish were captured in an otoshi-ami 500 meters offshore. Of the 106 specimens, 37 were females in various stages of gonadal development or spent and 69 were males of which 41 were sexually mature. The age of these fishes were estimated to be between 3 and 5 years.